Walking through Barnes & Noble, I saw a display of Harry Potter books, and I was thinking that I would love to experience that series for the first time again. I reread it every few years, but it obviously isn't the same as reading it new. I could say the same thing about Lord of the Rings, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, The Stand, etc., but at that moment, I just wanted to get lost in the Harry Potter universe again.

So what about y'all smelly pirate hookers?

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Patriotism means being loyal to your country all the time and to its government when it deserves it - Mark Twain

The Dark Tower is another,infact i really should read these again with the Wind through the keyhole inserted in the order to see the difference

The good thing is that my memory,while kickass for movies is dogshit for books,so if i read The Stand now(which i know is in my top 5 books of all time),i probably won't remember that much when reading a certain part in that book,infact i would most probably remember the scene from the mini series that i have on DVD,rather than when i read it in the past...right now thinking of the Stand i just think of Rob Lowe or Molly Ringwold or the guy who played Flagg saying "pleased to meet you,hope you guess my name" outside the jail cell

Yeah, The Harry Potter series is a must. The first two books are more...basic, due to the intended audience being younger, but they are still good reads, and contain important plot points that crop up in later books. Prisoner of Azkhaban is where it starts getting more mature and a little darker, and the last 4 book continue that progression quite nicely. Rowling could have done with some tighter editing, as a couple of books, especially Order of the Phoenix, are a little bloated, but there isn't a bad book in the bunch.

Re: The Stand, if you don't like Stephen King, you may have some issues with the book, because it is quintessential King, with all of his quirks. Nevertheless, there is so much that the miniseries glossed over, or outright cut, that is worth checking out.

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Patriotism means being loyal to your country all the time and to its government when it deserves it - Mark Twain

I've actually never read either Harry Potter or the Dark Tower series. Never bothered with any of the Potter films either...that entire phenomenon passed my by.

Probably should get around to those someday.

The first book is enjoyable but notably aimed just for children and you will read through it in a couple of hours,if that....but as the series goes on,it gets a lot darker and aimed more at young adults than children(but it seemed all ages got into it)...they are very fun books though,and certain characters you will be swearing at the pages over(especially if thinking of certain asshole teachers you had at school )

The films are just as fun,but unfortunately quite a lot gets cut,but everybody is perfectly cast,if you don't mind an all British cast....Warner Bros,Summer Blockbuster and John Williams soundtrack..can't go wrong

Dark Tower books are unique really,they mix a Clint Eastwood western with Sci Fi and Horror(not including Westworld )and have very memorable characters and situations...i mean if i said "Blaine is a pain" to everyone else,they know exactly what i mean(one of the best parts of the series IMO)

God,i loved the riddles just like how i loved the riddles in The Hobbit

also note,that The Dark Tower,somehow makes its way into a lot of other Stephen King books,from The Talisman/Dark House to even The Stand and 'Salem's Lot and Vice Versa just small things,but they make me smile when i come across them

Quote from: ATB on May 28, 2013, 08:17:27 PM

Question re: The Stand.

Never read it. Not a huge SK fan. But I really enjoyed the miniseries with Sinise...20 years ago?

Still worth the read if I kinda already know what happens?

its in my top 5,all i can say is Yes it's still worth a read..its a big book though(i have the updated version),maybe even for Stephen King,LOL

The first book is enjoyable but notably aimed just for children and you will read through it in a couple of hours,if that....but as the series goes on,it gets a lot darker and aimed more at young adults than children(but it seemed all ages got into it)

Honestly, this is why I avoided it in the first place. I've always had this big mental block of "this is for kids", but I suppose I should just set that aside and give it a shot.

The Stand is generally the favorite book of King fans. It's not my favorite, but I do think it's very good. I've alwys disliked the ending a lot. I also recommend the original version over the unabridged version. There's a reason long winded authors need editors.

I love the Dark Tower but the ending and the added meta-fiction added to the final two books were very disappointing for me. I need to check out the wind in the keyhole, which may warrant a whole series reread....

The Harry Potter books are awesome. While the first two books are lighter and slightly more youth oriented, I just love them. I love the potter universe and the introduction to it is just wonderful. Plus, the potter series has a great, very satisfying ending.

Now that it is mercifully complete, it's easy to recommend the Wheel of Time. Great ending.

John Varley's, Titan, Wizard, Demon trilogy. Only just started getting in to sci-fi when I read this one and it just blew me away. Unfortunately all the other books I read from him have fallen way short of that series.

This was my first thought, actually. I discovered them in 7th grade and read them voraciously. I had never heard of Tolkien or LOTR or any of that stuff so I was completely mesmerized by the 'originality' and scope.

The reason I didn't put it, though, was that I tried to re-read them as an adult just found the writing appallingly bad.

Theres a bunch of stuff that I wish I could do that for. The first that comes to mind is The Foundation Trilogy by Issac Asimov. Another series I devoured as a kid was The Lensman series by E.E. "Doc" Smith. Its pure space opera from the golden age of sci-fi.

Regarding ATB's question re: The Stand. YES! READ IT! It is imho King at his absolute best. I really enjoyed the mini series but it didnt come close to doing the book justice. It is one of my all time favorites. Also, if you like books of that genre, do yourself a favor and grab Swan Song, by Robert Mc Cammon ( Also check out Boys Life, also by McCammon, its fantastic! )

Besides all the great books mentioned above, I would have to add these few choices as well.

The Black Company by Glen Cook.

Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling.

If you could put all 12 billion pages into one book...then the Malazan books

Same with the Dresden files.

One that I found as a freebie on amazon that I actually liked was by Michael Hicks: In her name: Redemption.

EDIT: almost forgot "To Reign in Hell" by Steven Brust.Guardians of the Flame by Joel Rosenberg was much like the Dragonlance chronicles as a kid in Jr. High. Great then, but almost painful to read now.

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Computer-A-Thon: C.A.T.

3 days of sleep deprivation, Thai Food, and trash talking, all centered around making the network gods smile upon us so that we may smoke, frag, hack, kerplode, and otherwise beat upon your friends in a basement in Idaho.

Having had a collection upwards of 15,000 books i can admit to never reading any of the Harry Potter stuff. Watched the films and never really like them.

My redos are not actually high literature but more basic.

My favourite book series is Liege Killer by Christopher Hinz, first book is my fav and features a character called Reemul.

David Gemmell, love his books, Waylander the Slayer and Druss the Legend.

Anne Rice - the first 5 vampire books especially The Vampire Lestat

Enid Blyton - The Magic Kingdom and Faraway Tree - These bring back so many happy childhood memories that being able to recapture them would be amazing.

Brian Lumley - Necroscope - Great vampires and Harry Keogh as someone who can talk to the dead is a superb hero. This series started my penchant for all things vampiric outside the current twilight type of crap. Vampires as violent, scary, evil, intelligent is how it should be and Necroscope is all this.

George R Martin - Fevre Dreams - Vampires on the Mississippi River in the 1800's.

King - Salem's Lot, Stand and IT ( which gave me nightmares for a week as a kid)

if you didn't like the films of Harry Potter chances are you probably won't like the books either as although they cut a lot out to fit that 2 and a half hour time frame,everything else is pretty spot on

Your Enid Blyton mention made me think of the books i read as a kid,and Judy Blume Tales of a fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge would love to read for the first time,but admittedly i would still need to be a kid to appreciate them all over again(i have the newer Fudge books as well but not as good IMO...although i was in my 30s when i read them,LOL)

Dan Brown-Angels and Demons and DeVinci Code...but before all the bullshit/fame started

Reemul - David Gemmel is awesome, nice recommendation. So sad that he died before completing the last series.

I'd love to restart the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, by Steven Erikson. I remember after reading the first book, I had no idea what was going on. Then, the journey as you read more books and slowly the world, its characters and pantheon so to speak, unfolds and you suddenly understand what was going on. The epic scope of all 10 books, is somehing I haven't seen matched in any other series, and the fact that the smallest details that made little sense in the early books, are NOT forgotten, but expanded and explained upon in the later series, shows very good craftmansship from Steve Erikson.

Brian Lumley - Necroscope - Great vampires and Harry Keogh as someone who can talk to the dead is a superb hero. This series started my penchant for all things vampiric outside the current twilight type of crap. Vampires as violent, scary, evil, intelligent is how it should be and Necroscope is all this.

Dear goodness, this +1000. The first five books, anyways (the original series).

I`d also put forth that the Belgariad (David Eddings) would be nice to be a fresh read - if you have older kids, it`s a great family book to read together.

I`d love to read the Adept series completely fresh, as well as the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series.

The other one that springs to mind is the Videssos Cycle (Misplaced Legion series). Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.

« Last Edit: May 29, 2013, 02:28:23 PM by Purge »

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"If it weren't for Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of television, we'd still be eating frozen radio dinners." - Johnny Carson

This is still fresh in my mind, but I wish I could read the first 2 books of Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicles again for the first time. Both Name of the Wind and A Wise Man's Fear were fun to read.

As has already been said, the first 3 books of A Song of Ice and Fire were excellent.

I wish I could read Ender's Game again for the first time. I loved that book in high school.

Like some have already said, The Stand was such a good novel, especially at that time in my life. I know this is going to sound like marketing hyperbole, but when I was reading The Stand, I felt like I was in that world, on that same grueling journey. It took me a long time to finish in high school, but it was so good.

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett was another novel that made me feel like I was in that world with those characters. That book was a great escape for me during a tough semester in college.

I don't think reading Harry Potter for the first time now would be as fun. A lot of the fun was the fact that everyone was reading it at the same time and wondering what was going to happen. It's like that comic where the person plays Portal 5 years after it was released.